I bought a new cut-out from off another board member a couple nights ago... it'll be installed once I get it. I think I'll like the idea of having the Flowmaster for that nice, deep and smooth sound then being able to un-cap the exhaust when I want to make a little noise Now I need to decide on if it'd be worth getting an electric plate after I have to climb my big *** under the car a few times to do it manually

 

Yes, this makes a difference. The Flowmaster catback is a mandrel bent 3" catback...much better than the stock stuff. I had Borla on my '97 before the Flowmaster and there is a definite power difference when the Borla is fully uncapped as there should be...the Borla is a straight through muffler where the flowmaster is a chambered muffler.

 

Congrats on the FM muffler, if you are happy that is all that matters. It should not matter if you are going for sound mainly then that is all that matters. Anyways you look at it, you have to be happy.

Charlie

 

I bought my Z used and it came with flowmaster. i like the sound of it, the higher rpm's do not crackle like other exhausts. a member on another board dyno-ed 7 rwhp with a flowmaster. I like it and would stay with it if i had the choice.

 

No flame here, but no $h!t. If you LOST 12 rwhp by OPENING the cut-out, there would be a major problem! That's the whole purpose of them, is to completely free up the exhaust, but compared to just about any exhaust system, a cut-out will always make more power (except for the Borla which is basically a glorified cut-out, so you might not see as much gain).

Buffdaddy, glad you're happy with the Flowmaster! I installed the complete Flowmaster "American Thunder" cat-back on my car, and I love it! It sounds great, and I noticed NO power loss, if anything, a slight little boost in power over stock.

 

I dont see 12rwhp being the difference between leaving the line with little or no wheel spin, and spinning all the way throught first.

 

No he's saying he lost 12 hp flowing through the flowmaster and the cutout capped.

 

I guess every car is different. did you have really sticky tires on yours? because my '99 z28 bone stock with ASR off would spin the wheels from a dead stop until 2nd gear and then chirp them on the upshift. that's a bone stock car. I just put a flowmaster on and there's definitely more grunt than before. maybe the street you were trying to spin wheels on just had a lot of grip?

 

I love the sound of my Flowmaster too. Loud, but not obnoxious. Power loss with a Flowmaster? Are you kidding? Besides, I LIVE for that early morning rumble (did someone call it a "crackle"?) the first time I shift from 1st to 2nd. It sounds so ... NASCAR. As for a muffler and/or catback allowing spinning tires all the way to 2nd, when the F/M only allowed 3-5 feet of rubber .... - BUT if you say so I guess it must be true

 

I know...........he said he lost 12 HP from the time the cut-out was open, to when it was capped and the exhaust was running through the Flowmaster cat-back.............BUT, that doesn't say anything about the Flowmaster being bad, all it says is that the cut-out did its job and opened up the exhaust more, thus making more power. My point is that it doesn't matter what cat-back system you're running, you should always see a gain by opening a cut-out, so I just thought that his argument was a mute point and did not prove that a Flowmaster exhuast was bad.

 

 

Did I say it was some kind of revolutionary breakthrough? Next time I'll be sure to bring 2 or 3 different catbacks to the dyno shop to make sure we get a full comparison. My point was to quantify how much Flowmaster exhaust can/will cost you compared to a cutout. I didn't qualify Flowmaster either way. That's it.

 

I said nothing about 12 rwhp gain...DID I? I am simply stating that my particular Z28 responded extremely well to the Borla swap. My 1998 Z28 already had the Flowmaster muffler on it when I bought it. I have no idea how long it was on there. It may have had some broken baffles or something causing it not to flow well. I was shocked at the difference the swap made.

 

I like the sound of Flowmaster I have not been able to hear may other systems of exhaust not to many people I know have Camaros. I heard Loudmouth and it was loud and good sounding.

 

The only time a BORLA sounds like is if it's on an LS1. Come to think of it, all exhaust systems sound like @ss on the LS1 J/K


Congradulations on your new Flowmaster. Don't listen to people who say thery're only about sound. They'll provide you with every bit as much power as any other muffler upgrade (hooker,Dynomax,etc. etc.)

Enjoy it